Many courts and court-related tribunals operate throughout Australia. The majority of courts handle matters that are criminal or civil in nature, while tribunals provide a less costly alternative for progressing some civil and administrative matters outside the formality of a court. A criminal matter generally arises where a charge has been laid either by police or some other prosecuting authority on the basis of a breach of criminal law. A civil matter occurs where there is a dispute between two or more individuals or organisations, where one party seeks legal remedy for an injury or loss from the other party who is alleged to be liable.

There are many other types of courts and tribunals in operation, commonly referred to as specialist courts and tribunals. These have been established because the standard courts were not the best way to address certain types of matters. Examples of these include the Coroners' Courts, Family Court, Federal Magistrates' Court, Drug Courts, Workers' Compensation Commissions/Tribunals, Industrial Relations Commission, Small Claims Tribunals, Administrative Appeals Tribunal and Residential Tenancy Tribunal.

Courts and tribunals tend to be arranged in a hierarchy (diagram 11.17), with the majority of less serious matters being heard before magistrates and more serious matters being heard before judges. For criminal matters the seriousness is often determined by the nature of the alleged offence. In a civil context, seriousness is generally determined according to the amount being sought in compensation. A court's or tribunal's ability to deal with either a civil, criminal or other matter will depend on the state or territory's legislation or jurisdiction applicable to that particular level of court.

The hierarchy of courts also applies to appeal matters. Where grounds for appeal exist, the appeal process is available in both criminal and civil matters. Appeals resulting from civil tribunal decisions may be referred to the Magistrates', District/County, Supreme or Commonwealth Courts, depending on the jurisdiction and the right of appeals. Criminal appeals resulting from the Magistrates' Court can be appealed at either the District/County, Supreme or Commonwealth Court level in the first instance. The High Court of Australia is the highest court of appeal for both criminal and civil cases.

11.17 HIERARCHY OF COURTS

(a) In some jurisdictions, appeals from lower courts may go directly to the court of appeal in the Supreme Court. In the ACT, the court of appeal of the Supreme Court commenced exercising limited jurisdiction on 31 October 2001; full jurisdiction did not commence until 14 October 2002.(b) Appeals from federal, state and territory tribunals may go to any higher court in their jurisdiction.

Source: Steering Committee for the Review of Commonwealth/State Service Provision, 'Report on Government Services 2004'.

Criminal courts

A system of courts for the hearing of criminal matters exists in all Australian states and territories. Once charges are laid by police, the court will hear evidence by both prosecution and defence, and will make a decision as to whether or not the defendant is guilty. In cases where the defendant is found guilty, the court may also record a conviction and impose a penalty.

The lowest level of criminal court is the Magistrates' Court or Court of Summary Jurisdiction. The majority of all criminal cases are heard in these courts. Cases heard in Magistrates' Courts do not involve a jury and a magistrate determines the guilt or innocence of the defendant. This is known as a summary proceeding. Relatively minor offences such as property damage or minor road traffic offences can be dealt with in this way. More serious offences are dealt with by the higher court levels.

All states and territories have a Supreme Court that can deal with all criminal matters. The larger jurisdictions also have an intermediate level of court, known as the District or County Court, that deals with the majority of serious offences. The Supreme Courts and Intermediate Courts are collectively referred to as the Higher Courts.

All offences that are dealt with by the Higher Courts have an automatic entitlement to a trial before a judge and jury. In some jurisdictions, the defendant may elect to have the matter heard before a judge alone. Offences that must be heard before a judge and jury are known as indictable offences. These include offences such as murder, manslaughter and drug importation as well as serious sexual offences, robberies and assaults.

A defendant proven guilty in a criminal matter is entitled to appeal against the conviction or against the severity of penalty imposed. Under some circumstances, the prosecution is also entitled to appeal against the leniency of the penalty. The states and territories differ in the ways in which they deal with appeals. Some appeals from Magistrates' Courts may be heard before the Intermediate Courts. In other jurisdictions, the Supreme Court may hear these appeals. In most jurisdictions, an appeal court or Court of Criminal Appeal may be constituted to hear appeals from the Supreme or Intermediate Courts. In Australia, the highest court of appeal for all jurisdictions is the High Court of Australia.

National criminal courts statistics

As well as differences across the states and territories in terms of legislation, court procedures and the type of matters dealt with, there are also variations in data management practices and differences in the information that is collected as part of court processes. The net result of such differences is a lack of readily available nationally comparable data on court activities and the characteristics of people whose matters are dealt with by the various courts. The aim of the national criminal courts statistics collection undertaken by the ABS is to redress this situation progressively through the application of national data standards and counting rules.

Higher Criminal Courts finalisations

The number of finalisations in the Higher Criminal Courts decreased by 8% to 16,643 between 2001-02 and 2002-03 (table 11.18). The exclusion of bench warrants as a method of finalisation has partly contributed to this decrease. Taking this change into account, the number of finalisations between 2001-02 and 2002-03 (excluding bench warrants) fell by 5%.

11.18 TOTAL HIGHER CRIMINAL COURTS FINALISATIONS

1996-97

1997-98

1998-99

1999-2000

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03(a)

SUPREME COURT

New South Wales

90

85

123

127

146

136

102

Victoria

72

75

100

115

92

91

93

Queensland

743

813

776

856

785

754

693

South Australia

121

114

69

74

70

51

60

Western Australia

298

263

238

213

226

192

236

Tasmania

322

337

611

749

441

486

605

Northern Territory

206

311

288

268

404

262

256

Australian Capital Territory

150

138

161

190

205

171

164

Australia

2,002

2,136

2,366

2,592

2,369

2,143

2,209

INTERMEDIATE COURT(b)

New South Wales

3,494

3,876

4,063

4,173

3,771

3,518

3,102

Victoria

1,559

1,662

1,877

2,162

2,055

1,902

1,985

Queensland

5,521

5,664

6,819

6,523

6,147

6,476

5,937

South Australia

1,178

890

874

862

858

1,080

761

Western Australia

1,930

2,455

2,655

2,900

2,829

2,878

2,649

Australia

13,682

14,547

16,288

16,620

15,660

15,854

14,434

TOTAL HIGHER COURTS

New South Wales

3,584

3,961

4,186

4,300

3,917

3,654

3,204

Victoria

1,631

1,737

1,977

2,277

2,147

1,993

2,078

Queensland

6,264

6,477

7,595

7,379

6,932

7,230

6,630

South Australia

1,299

1,004

943

936

928

1,131

821

Western Australia

2,228

2,718

2,893

3,113

3,055

3,070

2,885

Tasmania

322

337

611

749

441

486

605

Northern Territory

206

311

288

268

404

262

256

Australian Capital Territory

150

138

161

190

205

171

164

Australia

15,684

16,683

18,654

19,212

18,029

17,997

16,643

(a) Excludes defendants finalised by a bench warrant being issued.(b) There is no Intermediate Court in Tas., NT or ACT.

Source: Criminal Courts, Australia, 2002-03 (4513.0).

Of the 16,643 defendants finalised in the Higher Criminal Courts during 2002-03, 81% (13,474) were proven guilty (i.e. pleaded guilty or were found guilty at trial) and 6% (990) were acquitted (diagram 11.19). Combined, these two finalisation outcomes represent defendants who had their cases adjudicated by the courts (87% or 14,464). The remaining 13% (2,179) of defendants were finalised by a non-adjudicated method such as all charges withdrawn by the prosecution.

11.19 HIGHER CRIMINAL COURTS FINALISATIONS - 2002-03

(a) All percentages are calculated as a proportion of finalised defendants and are subject to rounding.

Source: Criminal Courts, Australia, 2002-03 (4513.0).

Adjudicated defendants

Of adjudicated defendants, guilty pleas accounted for 83%. The remaining 17% were subject to a trial outcome, of which over half (59%) were found guilty.

More than 40% of both male and female adjudicated defendants in the Higher Criminal Courts were aged 20-29 years (graph 11.20). The majority (57%) of adjudicated defendants were aged 20-34 years. The median age of defendants finalised by adjudication in the Higher Criminal Courts was 29 years (table 11.21).

Principal offence

The majority of the adjudicated defendants in Higher Criminal Courts during 2002-03 (table 11.21) had a principal offence in one of five principal offence categories (Australian Standard Offence Classification Division). These were: acts intended to cause injury (including assault) (21%); unlawful entry with intent (including burglary and break and enter) (15%); illicit drug offences (13%); robbery, extortion and related offences (12%); and sexual assault and related offences (11%). There were 10,274 defendants adjudicated by the Higher Criminal Courts with a principal offence in one of these five offence categories.

For male defendants, the most prevalent principal offence category for which they were adjudicated was acts intended to cause injury (21%). For females it was deception and related offences and acts intended to cause injury (both 19%). By comparison with the relatively high proportion of females with a principal offence of deception and related offences, 6% of males had this as their principal offence. There were proportionally more males than females with a principal offence of sexual assault and related offences (12% and 1% respectively). Males and females were equally likely to have been adjudicated for homicide and related offences (3%) (graph 11.22).

The median age of adjudicated defendants displayed considerable variation across the principal offence categories. Defendants with a principal offence of manufacture or cultivate illicit drugs had a median age of 39 years, while defendants with a principal offence of robbery, extortion and related offences, and unlawful entry with intent (including break and enter) had a median age of 24 years.

Offences against justice procedures, government security and government operations

14

61

51

43

53

35

-

257

30.0

Miscellaneous offences

21

56

38

36

74

49

15

289

33.0

All offence categories(d)

1,555

3,420

2,619

2,237

2,715

1,843

75

14,464

29.0

PROPORTION (%)

Defendants(b)

Homicide and related offences

Murder

0.6

0.8

1.7

1.3

1.3

1.8

1.3

1.2

. .

Other homicide and related offences

1.3

1.8

2.2

1.4

2.4

2.0

2.7

1.9

. .

Total

1.9

2.5

3.9

2.8

3.7

3.7

4.0

3.1

. .

Acts intended to cause injury

18.6

22.6

21.9

23.9

20.4

13.0

13.3

20.6

. .

Sexual assault and related offences

5.3

4.8

6.6

10.2

14.0

28.9

8.0

10.8

. .

Dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons

4.3

4.0

3.7

3.8

2.5

1.7

1.3

3.3

. .

Abduction and related offences

0.5

0.5

0.7

0.9

1.0

0.3

-

0.7

. .

Robbery, extortion and related offences

22.4

17.0

13.3

10.0

7.2

2.7

5.3

12.1

. .

Unlawful entry with intent/burglary, break and enter

26.0

21.8

16.7

12.8

8.6

3.0

10.7

15.0

. .

Theft and related offences

6.4

5.4

6.1

4.8

4.6

4.2

-

5.2

. .

Deception and related offences

Fraud, forgery or false financial instruments

1.0

1.5

3.1

3.2

4.9

9.3

12.0

3.7

. .

Dishonest conversion

1.1

2.7

2.9

3.5

3.6

3.7

6.7

3.0

. .

Other deception and related offences

0.1

0.4

0.7

0.8

1.3

1.4

-

0.8

. .

Total

2.2

4.6

6.7

7.5

9.7

14.3

18.7

7.4

. .

Illicit drug offences

Import or export illicit drugs

0.1

0.1

0.4

0.4

0.7

1.0

-

0.4

. .

Deal or traffic in illicit drugs

2.7

6.8

9.9

12.7

13.5

11.9

6.7

9.7

. .

Manufacture or cultivate illicit drugs

0.2

0.4

1.5

1.8

3.5

3.7

1.3

1.8

. .

Other illicit drugs(c)

0.1

0.4

1.0

0.6

0.7

0.5

-

0.6

. .

Total

3.0

7.7

12.7

15.5

18.4

17.1

8.0

12.5

. .

Weapons and explosives offences

0.1

0.4

0.4

0.5

0.3

0.5

1.3

0.4

. .

Property damage and environmental pollution

5.4

3.0

2.1

2.0

2.1

2.2

2.7

2.7

. .

Public order offences

1.4

1.4

1.0

1.1

1.7

2.1

2.7

1.4

. .

Road traffic and motor vehicle regulatory offences

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

. .

Offences against justice procedures, government security and government operations

0.9

1.8

1.9

1.9

2.0

1.9

-

1.8

. .

Miscellaneous offences

1.4

1.6

1.5

1.6

2.7

2.7

20.0

2.0

. .

All offence categories(d)

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

. .

(a) Australian Standard Offence Classification.(b) Includes organisations and persons with unknown sex.(c) Includes Subdivision 104 (Posses and/or use illicit drugs).(d) Includes defendants for whom offence data were missing or a principal offence could not be determined.

Source: Criminal Courts, Australia, 2002-03 (4513.0).

Principal offenceduration

Of all adjudicated defendants, those who received a guilty verdict had a median duration (from initiation to finalisation in the Higher Criminal Courts) of 48 weeks, and those who were acquitted at trial had a median duration of 40 weeks (table 11.23). For those who pleaded guilty the median duration was 19 weeks.

Offences against justice procedures, government security and government operations

58.1

61.6

12.1

18.3

Miscellaneous offences

32.4

51.6

19.1

23.9

All offence categories(c)

39.7

48.4

18.6

21.9

(a) Duration from date of initiation to finalisation.(b) Not available for publication but included in totals, where applicable.(c) Includes defendants for whom offence data were missing or a principal offence could not be determined.

Source: Criminal Courts, Australia, 2002-03 (4513.0).

Change in plea

The initial plea entered by the defendant has implications for the workload of the Higher Criminal Courts and the length of time a defendant remains active within the court system. An initial plea of 'not guilty' may lead to a trial while an initial plea of 'guilty' will negate the need for a trial and result in a sentencing hearing.

Of the defendants finalised by adjudication (excluding Queensland), 57% (5,071) entered the Higher Criminal Courts with a not guilty plea and were therefore expected to be tried (table 11.24). Of the defendants who initially pleaded not guilty, 63% (3,179) changed their plea to guilty during proceedings in the Higher Criminal Courts.

In general, defendants with an initial plea of guilty had a shorter median duration than defendants with an initial plea of not guilty and a final plea of guilty. Defendants entering an initial plea of not guilty and a final plea of guilty in turn had a shorter median duration than defendants with an initial and final plea of not guilty.

Just over half (55%) of defendants proven guilty received custodial orders to be served in a correctional facility (i.e. custodial orders excluding fully suspended sentences) (table 11.25).

Non-custodial orders

Nationally, 26% of defendants proven guilty received a non-custodial order (includes community supervision/work orders, monetary orders and other non-custodial orders) as their principal sentence type (table 11.25). The most common non-custodial sentence type was a community supervision/work order (68% of non-custodial sentences).

(a) Includes organisations and persons with unknown sex.(b) Includes defendants with custodial orders not further defined.(c) Includes defendants with non-custodial orders not further defined.

Source: Criminal Courts, Australia, 2002-03 (4513.0).

In contrast to fully suspended sentences, the proportion of defendants proven guilty receiving a non-custodial order decreased with age, ranging from 50% for persons aged less than 20 years to 21% for persons aged 25-29 years to 18% for persons aged 45 years and over (graph 11.26).

Total criminal cases

Table 11.27 shows the total number of criminal cases dealt with by the courts of Australia, including appeal and non-appeal cases. Of all the criminal cases filed in Australia during 2002-03, 96% were filed in the Magistrates' Courts, with New South Wales and Queensland being the largest contributors to the national total. A large proportion of cases heard in the Magistrates' Courts were minor traffic matters in most states and territories.

11.27 CRIMINAL COURT FINALISATIONS - 2002-03

NSW

Vic.

Qld

SA

WA

Tas.

NT

ACT

Aust.(a)

Court level

’000

’000

’000

’000

’000

’000

’000

’000

’000

Supreme Court

0.9

0.5

1.1

0.4

0.5

0.7

0.3

0.2

4.5

District/County Court

9.0

4.6

7.6

1.2

2.8

. .

. .

. .

25.3

Magistrates' Court(b)

260.1

120.1

155.0

52.5

62.1

38.9

11.7

6.2

706.7

Total

270.0

125.2

163.7

54.1

65.4

39.6

12.0

6.4

736.5

(a) Totals may not add as a result of rounding.(b) Tasmanian data are estimated, based on finalisations made in Hobart.

Source: Steering Committee for the Review of Commonwealth/State Service Provision, 'Report on Government Services 2004'.